In the old days, it would have felt just like sitting outside, only worse, because there wasn’t ever a breeze. Even now, as soon as you step into the hallway, you’re reminded that the truck-based AC is only cooling the court area. Sometimes, it’s not that big of a deal for non-conference matches, but this was the first time in two years that the general public had been able to come to Holloway, and plenty of folks made sure they would be there to see a team that was ranked as high in the opening AVCA poll as any in Boiler history.

On Friday, the Good Gals played a bit like a team that was really happy to be back but also a little bit nervous and a little bit excited; the Lions hung with them most of the way and even took a set, but never really seemed to threaten the match. By Sunday, Purdue had their feet under them, dispatching Kansas in straight sets that might have seemed about as close but didn’t really match the potential drama from opening night.

Purdue 3, Loyola Marymount 1 (25-22, 23-25, 25-22, 25-20)

Personnel

If there is a regular starting lineup, it’ll be the same seven folks: Newton at OH, Cleveland at OPP, Bush at S, Trammell at MB, Schermerhorn at DS, and then Otec and Marissa Hornung in some combo of L and DS. Friday, Hornung was the libero.

The only freshman to make her Purdue debut was MB Raven Colvin, hardly a surprise. Other Boilers seeing action were MB Jael Johnson, DS Emma Terwilliger, and OH Maddy Chinn and Emma Ellis, all in their usual roles (Johnson as the second MB, Terwilliger as serving specialist, and Chinn and Ellis as OH opposite Newton in the rotation). Each played in 2 of the 4 sets.

Recap

The first set was a sign of things to come, as neither side really started off well. The first run was the hosts, turning a 5-6 deficit into an 8-6 lead, but Loyola scored the next five points to make it 8-11. Purdue chipped away at the lead, eventually getting another 3-0 run on a couple of errors and a Newton kill to go up 14-13; the sides basically traded points until a 6-0 run with Johnson at the line broke the set open - three different Boilers had kills and Johnson added an ace. A service error ended the run, and the Lions would fight off three straight set points to close to 24-22, but Chinn put down a Hornung set and the Boilers had their first set win of the 2021 season.

Set two started off the same way, only this time it was the visitors with a run, going up 6-8. Again, Purdue chipped away at the lead, tying it at 12 and 13 before a 4-0 run made it 17-14 Boilers. They looked to be in control, leading 18-15, 19-16, and 20-17, but consecutive service errors prevented any chance of a run, and the Lions made it 22-23 with a 2-6 run where the only two Boiler points were … service errors. Purdue tied it at 23 on a Newton kill, but another service error gave the Lions set point, and Kari Geissberger would capitalize, icing the set at 23-25. Still, most of us were optimistic, as it seemed the Boilers generally had the upper hand and only needed to tighten up a few things after the break.

The tightening definitely did not happen early in the third set, as the Good Gals dug themselves an early hole, ending up down 5-10 at one point. This time, the Lions were not as willing to yield the lead, and Purdue didn’t get it back until a 4-0 run made it 17-16; Loyola promptly scored the next two points to lead 17-18. From there, the Boilers ran off four straight to lead 21-18, traded points for 22-19 and 23-20, then let the Lions close to 23-22 before an LMU service error and a Newton kill finished the third set. Another close one, another Purdue set win … would the fourth set finally be what we were looking for?

Indeed it was. Loyola never led and could not catch Purdue after a 2-0 start; the Good Gals opened leads of 6-2, 8-4, and 10-5, then 13-6 before the Lions got it back down to two at 13-11. The Boilers pulled away on a 5-0 run that featured three LMU attack errors, and Loyola would not get closer than 4 the rest of the way. Two kills from Emmelyn Waters staved off match points, but Cleveland would not be denied on the third, and the Boilers finally recorded their first W of the season.

Stats

Purdue did not lead in anything other than attack percentage (.339 to .282) and digs (53 to 46), as Loyola kept a consistent hitting presence but could not keep enough of their attacks in to pull off the upset. The Lions held the edge in kills (60 to 50), aces (8-7), blocks (4-3), and assists (54-46).

With significantly fewer attack attempts, the Boilers had just two players with double-digit kills, the usual suspects: Newton with 14 at .414 and Cleveland with 11 at .417. (DS kills! Otec and Schermerhorn recorded one each.) Bush led Purdue as always with 41 assists, while five different Boilers served aces: two from Hornung and Otec (+1), one each from Newton (-1), Cleveland (+1) and Johnson (-2). Trammell shared match honors with 1.5 total blocks, as no other Boiler had more than one block assist. Hornung was the only Purdue player with double-figure digs, posting a match-high 15.

Loyola’s attack was led by senior OH Megan Rice, who led all players with 18 kills while hiting .308. Freshman OH Kari Geissberger added 17 kills at .300 and sophomore MB Emmelyn Walters had 10 kills at .563. Freshman setter Isabella Bareford topped both teams in two categories, assists (44) and aces (3/+2); Rice (2/-3), redshirt freshman libero Mary Shroll (1/even), Walters (1/-1), and Geissberger (1/-3) had the other aces. Geissberger also posted 3 block assists for 1.5 total blocks and was a dig short of a double-double; Shroll was the only Lion with 10+, leading the team with 11.

Purdue 3, Kansas 0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-15)

Personnel

Sunday saw a lineup from last year, with the starters the same as Friday except with Otec at libero and Marissa Hornung at DS. This time, Maddie Koch was the OH off the bench, with Johnson the second MB for two sets and Colvin in for the third.

Ava Torrance and Megan Renner joined Koch in making their 2021 debuts, with both playing in 1 set; Ali Hornung made her Boilermaker debut in the third set as well.

Recap

Fans who were nervous from Purdue’s relative struggles with Loyola had about three points to settle into their seats, as the Boilers nearly matched their block total from four sets on Friday in the first three points: blocks from Trammell/Cleveland and Trammell/Newton around a Caroline Bien attack error put the Good Gals up 3-0. Unfortunately, Kansas came right back with four straight, and we looked to be getting yet another back-and-forth set, as neither side strung together more than two points until a 5-1 Purdue run turned an 8-11 deficit into a 13-12 lead. After a Jenny Mosser kill tied the score, Purdue finally got the run we’d all been waiting for, with a pair of Cleveland aces helping to open up a six-point lead, 19-13. The Jayhawks would cut it in half but come no closer, as Purdue took four of the next five points. Kills from Anezka Szabo and London Davis put away the first two set points, but a Davis error finished the set, and Purdue was on the board, 25-20.

The second set looked like the opposite of the first, with the teams trading points through 3-3 before the Boilers went up 7-3. Kansas would get as close as 9-8 before another 5-1 run bought the Good Gals some breathing room; again, the visitors would get no closer than three the rest of the way, with Purdue going up 17-10 before letting the lead hang out between 3 and 4. At 21-17, a Cleveland error gave Kansas the last point either team would get on its own serve, as the teams traded points the rest of the way. A Newton service error denied Purdue the set at 24-20, but Mosser would return the favor, and it was 25-21 Boilers, with the hosts up 2-0 at the break.

You might have thought given the final score that the third set was always in hand, but that was definitely not the case. The Boilers went up 2-0, but Kansas came right back with a 1-3 run to tie it, then traded points again to tie at 4-4, and one set of traded runs made it 6-6. That was the point where Purdue finally kicked it into gear: a 3-0 run put the Boilers up 9-6, and after a Terwilliger service error, Szabo’s service error started a 5-0 run that saw Ali Hornung enter the match. Finally, two Davis kills got Kansas back within five, but the Boilers pushed it to 16-9, then 18-10. At 21-14, Renner came in for Bush and got a couple of assists and half a block as well; Purdue closed the match with a 5-1 run ending on a Koch kill from Renner, and the Boilers’ first sweep of the 2021 season was in the books

Stats

Purdue dominated the Jayhawks, leading most categories decisively and taking all of them but digs (43-45), as they led in attack (42 at .303 to 33 at .077), aces (4-3), blocks (12-2) and assists (37-28). Kansas also had more unforced attack errors (i.e. blocks not included), 13-10.

A more balanced attack, just three sets, and rotated playing time saw just one Boiler with double-digit kills, Newton with 11 at .267. We should mention Bush hitting 1.000 with 5 kills, just two off her career high (in the second February match this year at Michigan). No DS kills this time, though. Bush did lead all players with 29 assists and had 1 of the 4 aces (even); Cleveland (2/+1) and Colvin (1/+1) had the others. Colvin also had the lone solo block of the match; Trammell led all players with 3.0 (more than the Kansas team), just ahead of Cleveland and Johnson at 2.0. Otec took match honors with 12 digs, the only Boiler with 10 or more.

Kansas managed just one player in double digits on attack, 5th-year OH Jenny Mosser, who had 10 kills but hit just .133; Purdue held two players under -.100 on 10 or more attacks. Assists were split almost perfectly between 5th-year setter Sara Nielsen (14) and sophomore setter Elise McGhie (13); they also had all three aces (1/+1 for Nielsen and 2/+2 for McGhie). Senior MB Rachel Langs, Mosser, sophomore MB Caroline Crawford, and freshman OH London Davis each had 0.5 blocks, and Mosser edged out junior Kennedy Farris (who split libero duties with sophomore Molly Schultz) and freshman OH/libero Caroline Bien for top honors in digs with 9 to their 8.

Overall summary

Any time you go into the opening weekend and come out unbeaten, especially without a five-set match, it’s a good thing. Nerves were probably maxed out, especially playing in front of home fans again, so getting those two Ws was big, especially with the opportunity to get some middle-bench players some PT.

Colvin seems to be on track to push Johnson for playing time before too long, which is always good - if you have a solid senior who might be “just” the third-best MB on your team, you’re in good shape. Ali Hornung getting to play was good as well - those were the two I thought were most likely not to redshirt. Yim is a near-lock to redshirt; Rastovski may end up redshirting given that there are three juniors ahead of her, but we won’t know for a while.

The Boilers held steady at #8 in the AVCA poll, but “dropped” 2 spots in Massey to #9, largely because several teams (OSU, Louisville, Michigan, and Pitt) had impressive weekends. There will be a lot of movement in analytics the first month or so because we need to get through all the noise of the 2020-21 half-season; by mid-conference time, I think we’ll have a good picture of who is good and who is … other than good.

Across the conference

Eight teams are still unbeaten; Minnesota lost a four-set match to Baylor at Wisconsin (the Badgers generally host a four-team tournament with UM and two other schools to cut down on travel for the Gophers), Penn State lost to surprising Georgia Tech at Central Florida, and everyone else who lost (including Iowa twice) lost to schools who could be at least somewhat decent this season … but it’s still opening weekend, so even surprising upsets aren’t necessarily a big sign of anything.

Next up

Vegas, baby! The Boilers head to Sin City to battle host UNLV and guest Washington State this Thursday and Friday. (checks) Yep, we’re still in a pandemic, won’t be going then. (sigh)

Thursday, 7 PM: at #58 UNLV (live stats on Sidearm, live feed on UNLV’s site isn’t working for me)
Friday, 7 PM: vs #65 Washington State (live stats on Sidearm)

Radio coverage is available as always on WSHY, 104.3 FM. Remember that the home team and their conference are the ones with the media rights, which is why the UNLV tournament isn’t televised and the Xavier tournament next week will be on (sigh) FloSports. B1G+ coverage resumes the following week with the Stacey Clark Classic, and the next non-premium game is the conference opener Friday, September 24 against current #3 Ohio State (BTN proper).

Links to live stats will be posted if I can find them; again, these are courtesy of the home team so we’re kind of at UNLV’s mercy here.

Home matches! Real pictures! Once again, we thank Purdue Athletics for permission to share some of these fine images with you - without them, you’d have to rely on some random middle-aged dude taking shots with his camera from the crowd, and nobody wants that. No individual credits this week, but all images in this post come from Purdue’s Exposure site, here are links to Loyola and Kansas matches.